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Immunity of State Officials from the Criminal Jurisdiction of Foreign Courts under International Law
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Mohammad Setayeshpoor1   |
| 1- Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Qom, Qom, Iran. |
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Abstract: (28 Views) |
| This research examines the immunity of government officials from the criminal jurisdiction of foreign courts under international law, as one of the most sensitive issues concerning the balance between State sovereignty and the need to combat impunity. The research addresses the principal question of the extent to which personal and functional immunities of government officials constitute an obstacle to their criminal prosecution before the courts of other States for grave crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The importance of this research arises from the increasing reliance of national courts on the rules of universal jurisdiction and from the conflict between judicial practices that respect immunity as an expression of sovereign privilege and the growing tendency to lift such immunity in cases involving serious international crimes. The research is also significant because it clarifies the distinction between immunity as a mechanism for protecting the exercise of public office and its use as a means of escaping criminal responsibility. The principal problem lies in the absence of clear consistency between customary rules and contemporary judicial approaches, particularly the judgments of the International Court of Justice and certain national courts, concerning the possibility of prosecuting serving or former heads of State and ministers before foreign courts for acts characterized as international crimes. The research adopts an analytical and comparative methodology based on analysing relevant customary and treaty rules, examining international and national judicial decisions, and comparing the various approaches in legal scholarship and jurisprudence. The research concludes that personal immunity during the exercise of official office continues to enjoy substantial protection. However, functional immunity is increasingly being restricted in cases involving serious international crimes, as some courts tend to exclude the characterization of “official act” from conduct that violates peremptory norms. The research further concludes that clearer standards should be adopted in international law to balance the protection of public office with the prevention of immunity being used as a shield against accountability, while encouraging recourse to international or hybrid mechanisms where national prosecution is not possible. |
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| Keywords: Immunity, Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction, International Crimes, Universal Jurisdiction, Government Officials. |
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Full-Text [PDF 974 kb]
(8 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2026/08/29 | Revised: 2026/08/30 | Accepted: 2026/09/24 | Published: 2026/09/24
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